Guest Blogger: Lighting Your Outdoor Home with Curb Appeal

Guest Blog Entry #21, Entry #269, September 8, 2010

A few weeks ago, the DIY Stagetecture Saturday was about how to install outdoor landscape lighting. Outdoor lighting can make the difference between your home looking inviting to guests at night, or being able to enjoy your home past sunset.  Today, I welcome Paul Gosselin from NightScenes Landscape Lighting Professionals he explains how outdoor lighting can enhance your home’s curb appeal and improve safety at the same time.

Outdoor landscape lighting will change the mood of your home

Homeowners today are spending more time outside the confining walls of their homes.  A great deal of time and money is being invested to create beautiful and relaxing outdoor living spaces, only to see them fade into the darkness, making the space unusable when the sun goes down.  Bringing these areas of the home back into the light and extending your hours of enjoyment in these spaces is one of the

Paul R. Gosselin, Sr. CLVLT

primary functions of professional landscape lighting.  With properly designed and installed professional landscape lighting, the homeowner can enjoy the exterior of their abode at night all year long.  With the beginning of fall just around the corner, there couldn’t be a better time to consider adding some light enhancement for your outdoor entertaining!

The use of light fixtures to add a degree of safety to your property – as in walkways and steps —  can be attractively planned to avoid the “runway syndrome” which many do-it-yourselfers fall prey to when purchasing ineffective solar lights from the local home improvement store.  Professional designers can create art in illumination, utilizing an understanding of light and space, as well as the knowledge of wiring and low voltage electricity.  A proper design would use a taller fixture with a cover that blocks the actual source of the light (light bulb) preventing glare.  Well-designed light fixtures will cast the light down onto the walk area or steps, not into the eyes.  It is also prudent to remember that these fixtures should be placed in non-turf areas so that mowers and weed-eaters are not forced to navigate around them causing damage or noticeable “tilting” of the fixtures.  An alternate plan to safely light walkways and step areas could be the use of “moonlighting.”  This effect is achieved by placing fixtures as high as 25 feet or more into the canopy of a tall tree allowing the beams to filter through the branches casting lovely diffused light below.

Accentuate the amenities of your outdoor home

In addition to lighting for safety, low voltage lighting can enhance your property and architecture, becoming a distinctive style element.  Decorative lighting can really add some punch to flowerbeds.  By placing “spread lighting” fixtures in planting beds, a lighting designer will bring out the floral color and add a bit of flair to any ordinary display.  With the extensive range of fixture choices, your personal style can be reflected – be it traditional, whimsical, rustic, contemporary – or even eclectic!

Down lighting, often called “moon lighting”, produces a soft, diffused effect by placing several fixtures high into the canopy of a tall tree to let the light gently filter through limbs and branches simulating the effect of moonlight, creating striking patterns on the grounds below.  Using a spotlighting technique will bring attention to a particular object or architectural aspect, like a statue or entryway.  By selecting the proper fixture, lamp (light bulb), and beam spread, the lighting designer can make these features stand out in the landscape.  By placing a light directly in front of and below an object, the designer can create dramatic shadowing on the vertical surface behind it.  Changes in beam spread and the color of the light will generate a wide variety of effects which can be intense and extraordinary.  An impressive affect can be achieved when the designer places the correct fixture close to a textured surface such as a brick or rock wall, or even a tree trunk, and shines the light across the surface.  This grazing effect highlights the high points of the object forming shadows in the low points.  To achieve a more three-dimensional look to an object, the landscape lighting designer may employ a cross lighting technique.  Here, two or more fixtures are used to illuminate a statue, or a large plant or tree.  Striking results can be attained by a creative and skillful designer using lighting to silhouette an object.  Probably the most dramatic affect can be achieved with up lighting.  Since all natural light comes from the top moving down, seeing the opposite light effect can be very powerful.  A talented designer knows how to use this effect sparingly so as not to be too busy.

Landscaping can be enjoyed in the evening too!

When designing a landscape lighting system, the professional designer uses just the right combination of all these techniques to create a special look and atmosphere unique for each client.  By selecting the proper fixture, lamp, and beam spread along with the understanding of light and space, professional lighting designs can bring the exterior of your home to life at night, and make that outdoor living space an area that is beautiful, comforting, and a joy to be in anytime of the day  – or night.

Paul R. Gosselin, Sr., clvlt is a professional landscape lighting designer and president of NIGHTSCENES Landscape Lighting Professionals located in Kingsland, Texas.  He is a graduate of the “Kichler Kollege” for landscape lighting professionals and has attended additional training schools conducted by CAST, Unique Lighting, and Hadco Lighting.  He has also attended the acclaimed Janet Lennox Moyer Landscape Lighting Institute in Troy, NY.  Mr. Gosselin is certified by the Association of Outdoor Lighting Professionals, a non-profit organization dedicated to maintaining safety standards and quality training in the outdoor lighting field.  In February 2007, he was elected to the Board of Directors for the AOLP and is currently serving as the vice president of the association.  He is regarded as a national leader in the low voltage lighting profession, has contributed to numerous industry related publications and is consulted by professional designers throughout the country.

For more outdoor landscape lighting ideas on Stagetecture, click here.